Kale to The Queen’s Spring Frittata

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen is excited today to welcome Nancy Parra, who gives us a peek at her new series, the Kensington Palace Chef Series.

It’s early summer, but with the farmer’s market in full mode you can still get wonderful fresh ingredients to make this frittata. Hi, I’m Nancy Parra AKA Nell Hampton with a new series out --The Kensington Palace Chef Series. As you might know I love cooking and cozy mysteries. This series is a blast because I get to visit London and learn everything I can about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. My protagonist, Carrie Ann Cole, is an American Chef in London as she takes on the role of personal chef to the young family. This is Carrie Ann’s Kale frittata and one of the fun recipes in the first book of the series, Kale To The Queen.

Ingredients:

8 green onions

1½ cups of cooked peas, fresh or frozen

½ cup fresh spinach or kale
24 small new potatoes
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs of chopped chives, basil and parsley (fresh)
½ cup of finely grated parmesan cheese
10 eggs (large)
¾ cup of heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup feta cheese crumbled
3½ oz of thinly sliced pancetta or bacon

Directions:

Cut into quarters and cook new potatoes until tender. Wash green onions and chop. Wash spinach/kale, drain well, wilt it in a pan with a little olive oil.

Melt butter and olive oil in a large (8 inch) oven proof frying pan. Cook the onions until soft. (If you don't have an oven-proof pan, cook the onions on the stove, then mix the ingredients in a baking pan, like this Pyrex one.) Remove the pan from heat and add the peas, wilted spinach/kale and potatoes. Sprinkle with herbs and parmesan cheese.

Whisk together the eggs and cream, and add salt and pepper. (I use ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.) Pour into pan over vegetables. Crumbled the feta over the top. Add pancetta in small twists.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until set and golden brown.

Serve immediately. Also makes great leftovers served cold.

About Nancy:

Nancy J Parra AKA Nell Hampton is the author of over 25 published novels which include five mystery series: The Candy Coated Mysteries (Kensington), The Kensington Palace Mystery Series (Crooked Lane), The Wine Country Tours Mystery Series (Crooked Lane), The Gluten-free Baker’s Treat Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), and The Perfect Proposal Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime).  Her writing has been called witty and her protagonists plucky by reviewers around the world.  Nancy is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. 

Nancy is offering a large-print copy of Kale to the Queen to one lucky winner. Just answer her question "What is your favorite British food?" in a comment below, and be sure to include your email (replace the periods with (dot) to keep things safe).